News : Olivia Spencer Marks 18th Birthday, MORE than Half-Heartedly!

Eighteen years ago, Olivia, who most of you know as Liv, was born with a very special heart. Now, not the ordinary kind that is filled with kindness, (though she's got that in spades). I mean medically speaking: she was born with only half a heart. The left side did not develop and didn't work at all. Neither did her aorta.

Liv was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a condition so severe that before the 1980s, there were no known survivors. It's what they call a "single ventricle" condition. Two chambers. No fix. No cure. Just prayers, surgeries, and hope.

"That first year, we weren't sure we'd ever get a second. So we threw a massive birthday party. I'm talking 300 people. Our whole church came. Most of the town in person or through cards, really. So many of you prayed, showed up, donated gas cards, helped feed us during endless hospital stays. We were blown away by the love. It was one of the most humbling seasons of my life," said her mother Kendra Newbrough.

Then things became more stable once she reached elementary school.The constant panic began to fade along with the prayers. So much so that we started to enjoy and forget a bit just how fragile life is, her life, especially.

Now here we are at another milestone, eighteen!

-Eighteen years.

-Three open-heart surgeries.

-One stroke.

-Countless hospital stays.

-Twenty-seven heart caths.

-Three stents...And a mama who still holds her breath every time she sleeps in too late.

You don't outgrow a heart like Liv's. There's no cure. The right side of her heart has done the job of two for almost two decades, and one day it won't be able to anymore. She will eventually need a heart transplant-there's just no way to know when. That's why she's part of a Fontan Clinic every year-an all-day marathon of tests and evaluations that studies survivors like her, because adulthood with this condition is still relatively uncharted territory.

The oldest survivors with HLHS are in their late 30s and early 40s. That used to scare her family, but they remind Liv all the time-that's just how old the oldest survivors are, not how long she'll live. Medicine is evolving. Miracles are still happening. And honestly, one day they'll grow her a heart with her own stem cells. "If anyone can hold out for the next medical breakthrough, it's my girl," Kendra said.

And Liv? She's a fighter-but also the gentlest, most thoughtful soul you'll ever know. She's creative, hilarious and fiercely loyal. The one request for her her 18th birthday was a matching tattoo with her mama (that she designed) and a dinner at Olive Garden with her people!

She's earned that and so much more!

Kendra said, "We plan to make this birthday unforgettable-because every single year we get with her is a gift. We live with that reality every day, but we don't live in fear. We live in celebration.

To every pastor who put Liv's name on a prayer list, to every neighbor who sent food, to every stranger who gave $5 for gas at the pumps-thank you. You were part of her miracle.

From half a heart came a whole lot of love.

Happy 18th, Liv. You were never expected to be here-but here you are, still beating the odds."

If you would like to send Liv a card to help her celebrate her birthday on Saturday, send it to:

Liv Spencer

715 W. 15th St.

Vinton, Iowa 52349